Welcome to Bimmerfest -- The #1 Online Community for BMW related information! Please enjoy the discussion forums below and share your experiences with the 200,000 current, new and past BMW owners. The forums are broken out by car model and into other special interest sections such as BMW European Delivery and a special forum to voice your questions to the many BMW dealers on the site to assist our members!

Hi viperjay: can you please tell me where you placed the head of the screwdriver before tapping it with the hammer? There is a great clear picture earlier in this thread of the washer with a green arrow pointing to a slot but unfortunately the slot in my situation is turned to the right & about half way up so the slot is covered by that piece of metal with the flange to the right so I can not get a screwdriver inserted into the slot. Did you just put the head of the screwdriver on the washer holding the screwdriver vertical or did you hold the screwdriver horizontal & place the head of the screwdriver on the side of the washer or did you actually put the head of the screwdriver either horizontally or vertically into the slot of the washer. If you put the head of the screwdriver in the slot I guess I'm up the creek because it is physically not possible in my situation. TIA

domm, the idea is that the worm screw is what is seized at the point of that washer. if you cant get to the place on the washer where it is split, then i would just try tapping on the edge of the washer. fortunately for me, the split in the washer was facing up. i was easily able to get the screwdriver in there and flex it with a couple taps and that unseized it. i would think if you can apply the pressure anywhere on the washer, it will unseize. just keep at it but dont hit it so hard that the washer warps as that would not be good. but, looking at the size of that washer, you would have to nail it pretty damn hard to damage it. good luck, and if it doesnt come loose, then shoot it with some WD40 and try again. WD is a good solvent and should loosen it up. just dry it off with paper towel and use lithium grease before you close it all up.

domm, the idea is that the worm screw is what is seized at the point of that washer. if you cant get to the place on the washer where it is split, then i would just try tapping on the edge of the washer. fortunately for me, the split in the washer was facing up. i was easily able to get the screwdriver in there and flex it with a couple taps and that unseized it. i would think if you can apply the pressure anywhere on the washer, it will unseize. just keep at it but don't hit it so hard that the washer warps as that would not be good. but, looking at the size of that washer, you would have to nail it pretty damn hard to damage it. good luck, and if it doesn't come loose, then shoot it with some WD40 and try again. WD is a good solvent and should loosen it up. just dry it off with paper towel and use lithium grease before you close it all up.

much thanks viperjay........i gave it my best shot but could not get it to budge.....i did spry some wd on it before putting the plastic piece back on, maybe the wd will loosen things over time.....thanks again

PS: this was not my car but a friends.......i removed the plastic on my car to have a look for comparisons sake & found that the 2008 has a completely different look to the 07 i was working on

domm, i take it the in and out works just not the up and down, correct? if thats the case, you could always take out the knee bolsters and get to it from a different angle. if you hit the washer where is splits, thats where you can flex the washer and break the seizure on the worm screw. im not sure how to take the knee bolster out but im positive its not rocket science! if neither up/down or in/out work, it could be something different. good luck.

domm, i take it the in and out works just not the up and down, correct? if thats the case, you could always take out the knee bolsters and get to it from a different angle. if you hit the washer where is splits, thats where you can flex the washer and break the seizure on the worm screw. I'm not sure how to take the knee bolster out but I'm positive its not rocket science! if neither up/down or in/out work, it could be something different. good luck.

viperjay.....yes you are correct in thinking it is an up & down issue & the in & out is fine.....I did take both the top & bottom plastic cover that covers the steering wheel column off & was able to hold a screwdriver horizontally & put the screwdriver head on the washer but it did not seem to do anything...because the slot of the washer is turned in toward the piece of metal that the washer is supposed to push up against there is no way that I can get the head of the screwdriver into that slot without doing a lot of disassembling which I don't think I'm qualified to do & especially since it is not even my car....thanks for all your help though

great post, will try mine tonight. Just a little confused, in the first pic you taking off the top part of the facia on the steering column to expose the spindle motor but you cant adjust it from there right ? I take it this allows to expose other screws and clips to free the bottom part where you use the screwdriver and hammer ?

great post, will try mine tonight. Just a little confused, in the first pic you taking off the top part of the facia on the steering column to expose the spindle motor but you cant adjust it from there right ? I take it this allows to expose other screws and clips to free the bottom part where you use the screwdriver and hammer ?

Hi skybmray: you only need to remove the top part of the fascia in order to gain access to the infamous washer with the slot in it. Once you remove the fascia just move the steering wheel out to it's longest position & then you can get your head behind the steering wheel (it is tight) & look down to see the washer. There is a soft cloth material that you can push back a little to give you a better view & have a flash light handy. gl

I used some WD40 on the wormnut first to loosen it a bit, then got a flatspade screwdriver and tapped it a couple of times and it freed itself. I heard a noticable click and then used the tilt joystick and it moved !! I then got a can of lithium grease and sprayed it on the spindle. It works perfectly fine, thanks for the great post !

I used some WD40 on the wormnut first to loosen it a bit, then got a flatspade screwdriver and tapped it a couple of times and it freed itself. I heard a noticable click and then used the tilt joystick and it moved !! I then got a can of lithium grease and sprayed it on the spindle. It works perfectly fine, thanks for the great post !

The facia part is easily removed using both hands and up.

NICE JOB !!!

Congrats skybmray on your successful DIY. I wish I could say the same but so far I have not been able to un-jam mine. Were you able to put the head of the screw driver between the slot of the washer or did you just place the head of the washer on a random spot on the worm?

domm, i would not lay metal to the worm screw. if you ding that worm, its going to have trouble spinning. now, if your steering wheel is stuck all the way up, you should not be able to even see the worm screw. just that tan plastic worm cover. if you look in the third pic i posted on page 2, yours should look like that. i think i see where the metal that is in your way is located. still, if you hit that washer at a 45 degree angle i would think it would loosen up for you. dont be afraid to give it a good strong tap. all you really have to do is hit it hard enough so you shatter the old grease that is seizing it up. also, when you try to put it down, you hear the motor whine for a second, right? im just still puzzled how this hasn't worked for you. starting to think it might be something else. servo motor?

domm, i would not lay metal to the worm screw. if you ding that worm, its going to have trouble spinning. now, if your steering wheel is stuck all the way up, you should not be able to even see the worm screw. just that tan plastic worm cover. if you look in the third pic i posted on page 2, yours should look like that. i think i see where the metal that is in your way is located. still, if you hit that washer at a 45 degree angle i would think it would loosen up for you. don't be afraid to give it a good strong tap. all you really have to do is hit it hard enough so you shatter the old grease that is seizing it up. also, when you try to put it down, you hear the motor whine for a second, right? I'm just still puzzled how this hasn't worked for you. starting to think it might be something else. servo motor?

Yes viperjay you are correct in thinking the steering wheel is stuck in the up position & it looks exactly as your picture #3 displays. I'm assuming the motor is working because when I push the small nob either up or down I can hear a whine for a slit second. Because it is not my car & I'm just trying to do a friend a favor I was cautious in the amount of force I used when hitting the screwdriver with the hammer. If I give it another try I will us a little more force. I did give it a shot of WD40 hoping that might seep into the hardened grease & loosen it up but so far no luck. Thanks for your time & I'll let you know if I finally succeed.

then it has to be seized. the way i looked at it when i did it was it was either going to be fixed or i would have to replace it. the dealership wanted to replace the whole column. they wouldnt even bother to try to fix it, just replace. just tell your friend if it does get damaged by attempting to fix, then he is back to square one in that it doesnt work and will need to be replaced. good luck!

Dommm i couldnt get the slot part, so i just placed it on the end of the spindle first and then between the spindle and wormnut. Give it s good tap a couple of times and it should free it self. Use the tilt lever a couple of times after the taps to help it unstick.

1) The split washer and brass worm gear do turn together when they are free. This controls the up/down of the steering column not the in and out.

2) My steering column was stuck in the up position. The split washer was at the top of the worm gear making it easy to hit with the screwdriver and hammer. Initially i was hitting the split washer square in the groove perpendicular to the brass worm gear and nothing was budging. I then thought I probably should try to hit it at an angle to make it rotate as if the motor was driving the worm gear. One problem with this was that I wasnít sure which direction to try and drive the worm gear with the screw driver hits. If you go the wrong way it will only jam the brass worm gear and stop washer further into the ball nut "Gray/Tan thing over the Brass Worm Gear". I eventually got mine to free up by hitting the stop washer at an angle counter-clockwise. For a reference point counter-clockwise is equivalent to turning the steering wheel to the left as you are sitting in the driverís seat. Note: the brass worm gear and steering wheel are basically parallel to each other. I also use a little WD40 as some suggested and I stuffed a blue paper towel inside the steering column below the worm gear to catch any extra run off.

3) Donít forget to grease the area between the stop washer and the ball nut and also the entire worm gear with Lithium Grease.

In summary:

Column Stuck in the Upper Position = Try and force the washer and brass worm gear in the counter-clockwise direction

Column Stuck in the Lower Position = Try and force the washer and brass worm gear in the clockwise direction

then it has to be seized. the way i looked at it when i did it was it was either going to be fixed or i would have to replace it. the dealership wanted to replace the whole column. they wouldn't even bother to try to fix it, just replace. just tell your friend if it does get damaged by attempting to fix, then he is back to square one in that it doesn't work and will need to be replaced. good luck!

viperjay.....My friend came over today with his 750 BMW with that stuck steering wheel so as he was leaving I said I would give it another shot to un-jam the thing. I lifted up the fascia & with screwdriver & hammer in hand gave the washer about 5 or 6 taps but with a little more force then I had done previously. I then pushed up & down on the control nob & nothing. I did this twice more with the same results so I resigned myself to the fact I could not help him. Before putting the fascia back on I gave the washer & surrounding area a shot of WD40. I gave the nob one last push up & down but no movement so he drove off.

As I was walking back into my house a car horn blew & I turned to see my friend driving back up my driveway. Low & behold the steering wheel was moving up & down with every push of the control nob. I thank you & all other members on my friends behalf for the advice!!

What I did was remove the lower column trim - single screw on bottom, slide wheel trim towards steering wheel and yank lower trim off. That made it much easier to see and access the worm gear and washer. The screwdriver/hammer trick didn't do anything for me. The slot in the washer was facing the column so I put the screwdriver between the washer and the metal column and actuated the down switch while leveraging the screwdriver so it would turn the washer CCW. It freed up immediately and continues to work.

Thank you very much Dannydos, your efforts in posting this fix has helped me also.
I followed the instruction exactly and hay presto, the steering column is going up and down again. Lubed up with some silicone spray also.
Thanks to guys like you, we all have an easier life, as well as not being touched up by the dealers.
Thanks again for your help
Cheers
Cam

I'm fairly new to the forum but I've owned my 7 for over 4 years now. I had to post the fact that I was able to fix my columns up and down function with the help from this site among all other tips and ideas I've found very helpful so thanks now if I could only get that supercharger

Hey guys thank you all for the support. This also helped me fix my steering wheel too. To all of the people trying this THE PART THAT THE SCREWDRIVER NEEDS TO GET IN BETWEEN IS THE METAL ROUND WASHER. THE WASHER LOOKS LIKE IT A PART OF THE SCREW BUT IT NOT. I EVEN FOUND A MORE USEFUL TACTIC. THERE IS A SMALL SLIT IN THAT WASHER IF YOU LOOK AT THE PICTURES ON PAGE ONE. PUT YOUR SCREWDRIVER IN IT AND TWIST YOUR FLATHEAD SCREWDRIVER. THIS WILL LOOSEN THE GRIP THAT THE WASHER HAS ON THE MAIN SCREW. THE REASON THAT YOUR WHEEL IS STICKING IS BECAUSE OF THE TIGHTNESS OF THAT WASHER. IT CLAMPED DOWN TWO HARD WHICH IS MAKING IT DIG INTO THE MAIN SCREW THUS PROHIBITING THE SCREW FROM TURNING. HOPE THIS HELPS, THANKS...